Re: Child Support

I am garnishing child support for an employee, due to a court order. The program is giving me the option to put it on his W2 in Box 10 (Dependent Care Benefits), Box 12, or Box 14. Which one should I choose?

posted

Since its for child support, wouldnt it be best if it went to dependent care benefits? I would think box12 would be correct

Child support is not deductible for the payer or taxable to the receiver. That does not change in the 2018 tax law . You should not show it on the w-2 at all.

Disclaimer: Not a tax professional. Information gathered from internet links. Anything dated in June 2019 was posted in prior years and is before the 2019 limits and changes.

It definitely should not be in the Dependent Care Benefits box. This amount should not have any impact on the tax return at all. Box 14 is often used to tell the W-2 recipient about amounts taken from their pay that don't have anything to do with a tax return, and you can enter your own description for the amount, so that would be the best place for it.